


How To Subdue The Masses

by Malezita



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-31
Updated: 2012-05-31
Packaged: 2017-11-06 10:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/418020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malezita/pseuds/Malezita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>72 hours off duty is a long time on his hands....</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Subdue The Masses

**Author's Note:**

> this is a story to enter in the "Time on my hands" challenge on VAMB

*I've never had so much time on my hands,* he thought. Chakotay was bored, but the doctor was clear: 72 hours off duty, resting. He was getting up from his bed when he heard a throat being cleared from the direction of his bedroom door.

“I thought the doctor said you should rest; where do you think you are going, mister?” she asked, leaning on the doorjamb with her arms folded in front of her.

“I was getting up, Kathryn; I can’t stay here for 3 days!” he complained, with a very unmanly, high-pitched voice.

“Well, you will have to. You should be grateful I saved you from 3 days in sickbay,” she said, walking to his bed. “But I promised the doctor I would take care of you, Commander!” she voiced, touching his shoulder and pushing him back to bed.

“But I am bored,” Chakotay whined.

“I know,” she said, touching his cheek, “and I have the perfect thing to keep you amused while you are in bed.” She got up and went to the living room to pick up something. A minute later she was back. 

“What on earth am I supposed to do with that?” Chakotay said, pointing at what Kathryn had in her arms.

“Why, watch it, of course!!” she said, lifting the bundle over his dresser. “I even brought you a selection of the best chips to watch; B’Elanna specially recommended these,” she said, looking at the bright red data chips. “Some show about family feuds and stuff like that,” she said, putting one of the chips inside the memory slot.

Chakotay sighed, resigned to his fate.

She walked back and sat in the edge of his bed. “I’ll be back as soon as my shift is finished, but if you need anything, com me, ok?” she said, touching his cheek again and brushing her lips across his.

He sighed again. She got up and brought him a cup of tea and some cookies. Then she left, turning on Tom’s TV set on her way out.

Chakotay looked at the screen and sighed. The music was nice with emphasis in the winds section. There was an ancient city, a stately house, what he supposed were luxury cars and people in what looked like formal wear.

*Well, it doesn’t look that bad; maybe I will be able to have some anthropological idea of how life was 300 years ago on Earth,* he thought. *Dynasty? …hmmm, the title sounds interesting.*

 

The next night, Kathryn chimed the door of B’Elanna and Tom’s with their TV set in her arms. As soon as the door opened, she handed the apparatus to Tom.

“That” she said, pointing to the TV set, “was a bad idea!” She turned around to leave.

“Wait a minute,” B’Elanna begged. “What was the problem?” she enquired. “Is the TV set broken?” she examined the TV, “Or didn’t he like the show?”

“No!” Kathryn said, “the problem is he liked the show too much!” she crossed her arms over her chest.

Tom and B’Elanna looked at her as if she’d grown another head on her right shoulder.

“I can’t have a coherent conversation with him since that thing was in his bedroom!” she said, exasperated. “Last night there were two women fighting in a lily pond and he kept saying, ‘careful with the nails, Alexis!’” she sighed. “And then he was explaining to me some crazy theory about the use of that kind of TV shows to subdue the masses into a consumer frenzy in the late 20th century. Something to do with advertising products in between the TV shows???” she shrugged.

She eyed them, looking for some recognition of what she was saying, but the young couple had bored expression that told her they didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about.

Shaking her head, she was ready to leave. “Thanks anyway, Tom, for lending me your TV” she said, starting to walk away. “Uh…by the way, if he asks, you asked for your TV back …is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!” was all she heard from them.

Fin


End file.
